


Of Ginger and Giant

by seventeensteps



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Millicent POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-31 15:17:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6475444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seventeensteps/pseuds/seventeensteps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If anyone asked Millicent what was the most important thing in her life, she would simply say, 'Meow.'</p>
<p>'Meow' means a lot of things, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

If anyone asked Millicent what was the most important thing in her life, she would simply say, 'Meow.'

'Meow' means a lot of things, though.

'Meow' means her favorite brand of cat food every evening, the squishy purple octopus plushy, her claw marks on the black leather couch, and the soft brown cushion she uses to sleep on every night.

But in the end, 'Meow' boils down to only one word.

_Hux_.

Millicent wouldn't regard herself as a sentimental cat. She is not a clingy cat. She is a fairly independent cat, actually. She goes places on her own, does things she finds amusing by her catself, and rarely nags Hux about the annoying, and sometimes even disgusting, humans he brings home with him.

But that doesn't mean she doesn't care about him.

The only thing that stops her from terrorizing those humans' lives is the fact that they never come here twice. Millicent isn't really sure if that's a good thing or not.

Sometimes when the ginger human just lies in bed, reading, barely getting out of the room, Millicent takes a special care to stay in there, on the bed, beside him. She likes to think that the gentle hand in her short fur relaxes him as much as it does her.

 

&&&

 

Things continue as they have been, but on one cool evening, something changes.

Millicent hears _him_ even before she sees him walk through the front door.

"Stop sulking," her human says, as coolly as ever, before shutting the door behind the other man. A giant, her catbrain supplies. Although he's not that taller than Hux, the man is practically looming over him with all that bulk underneath the stretched white shirt.

"I'm not sulking," the man snaps. A grumpy giant, then.

"Yes, you are," Hux says, then walks away from him to the direction of the fridge. He fishes out two bottles of beer, handing one to the dark-haired giant still standing stiffly in front of the closed door. Hux lets out a small sigh. "Just come and sit here," Hux points to the black leather couch full of Millicent's Expressionism art.

She chooses that moment to move, jumping up to the back of the couch, and sits there. She senses that the man's steps falter a bit.

"Oh," Hux says, taking a seat on the couch, nimble fingers scratching Millicent's chin. "This is Millicent. Millicent, Ren."

She's heard that name before. Hux often says it with exasperation, but the lines between his brows when he's angry with something are not there. Millicent finally meets the man attached to that name. Ren looks at her for a beat, and then, with a glint in his eyes, coming and going in a flash, jerks his hand up and waves at her.

Interesting.

She hops down and plants herself near Hux's left  thigh, taking up the potential spot between the man and her human, and goes on to wash her face. Hux quirks his eyebrow at her, but she simply ignores him.

Ren sits down next to Millicent, not touching, but not too far away either. He looks down at the bottle in his hand, exhaling loudly, and takes a swig from it.

"You really brought that on yourself," Hux chides lightly. "You should've endured it and not lashed out at the potential client. Of course, Snoke's pissed. That's the third time this month."

Ren drinks again, bitterly. "That fucker thought he was in any place to ask for a discount? He should be the one begging us to make a deal with him, not vice versa," he spits.

Hux sighs. "This is why you should let me deal with him."

Ren turns his head so fast Millicent can't help but tense up. A familiar hand comes down and pats her shoulders lightly. "You think I can't do my job?"

"Careful, Ren. You're stressing my cat."

The man glares at Hux, then, averting his eyes to Millicent, he turns his head and glares down at the glass bottle in his hand instead. He finally huffs after a moment, shoulders losing a bit of the stiffness.

"Good," Hux says. "I'm just saying different clients require different routes to approach, and mine works better in this case. That man was scared shitless of you and he was an idiot enough to try to fight and regain his losing confidence. You destroying the conference room table didn't help in the slightest.

"If we did it my way, however, by now we'd both get the deal sealed and that man in our grasps, unable to squirm away for help."

Ren is visibly fighting with himself, but eventually grits out an, "Alright."

"Good," Hux repeats. "Now drink the beer and watch some shitty space series with me." Hux turns on the television at that, searching for said shitty space series which Millicent has witnessed him watching and rewatching for at least ten times already.

They settle down after that, exchanging sarcastic comments about the villains, criticizing how dumb they are, and having a serious conversation on ’20 Different Ways to Improve the Bad Guys’ Strategy’. Hux orders in pizza, gets more beer. Ren, discarded of his tie, is sitting closer than before, and Millicent has migrates onto Hux’s lap at some point, enjoying the warmth and comfort of those long fingers and the easy flow of conversation around her. Millicent hasn’t seen Hux this relaxed when someone else is around since, maybe, ever.

The man ends up staying the night, clothed in one of Hux’s large tees and a pair of comfy-looking plaid pajama pants, long limbs extending over the assigned space, claiming the black leather couch all to himself.

This is the first time in a long while that a stranger stays away from Hux's bedroom, although she has a feeling that Ren is not much of a stranger to Hux, but anyway.

Millicent jumps up onto the man’s chest, and stares down at him.

“What?” the man asks.

You’re interesting, she thinks.

Ren frowns at her questioningly, but then his large hand comes up, hesitates for a bit, and lands on her head, scratching behind her ears.

“You’re orange,” he states, his furrowed brow loosening. Millicent doesn’t understand him. She isn’t sure he understands himself either.

Ren’s hands are heavy, but it’s not uncomfortable.

Something in the back of her mind tells her that this is not the last of the grumpy giant she will ever see.

And Millicent is immensely pleased with that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Millicent is washing herself as she watches Hux keep sweeping the leaves and dust on the balcony floor to one side while the wind keep blowing them back all over the space again and again and again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I don't even know what I'm doing apparently, but thank you all anyway for reading, leaving kudoses and comments, and subscribing. You guys are awesome.)

Millicent is washing herself as she watches Hux keep sweeping the leaves and dust on the balcony floor to one side while the wind keep blowing them back all over the space again and again and again.

“For fuck’s sake,” mutters the man under his breath. The human looks resigned, and there’s a tiny orange leaf, almost imperceptible, in the messy uncombed orange hair.

 _The wind is not particularly fond of Hux today_ , she thinks.

At that moment, _thud thud thud_ sounds from the front door. Hux puts down his weapons, leaning it against the wall, and huffs, hands brushing some invisible dust from his tee, “Millie, answer that for me, will you?”

Millicent pauses in her activity, and stares at him.

“Right,” Hux breathes out, and goes inside, probably to get the door.

Actually, Millicent can open the door for him; it’s just that she doesn’t want to do it when Hux is fully capable of doing it himself. Often enough, Hux tries to get her to do some stupid stuffs, like pawshaking, walking on two legs, and answering the door. Hux just never learns sometimes.

Two people are walking toward the balcony, she senses from the double footfalls. Millicent perks up. One is Hux’s, confident and soft and familiar, and the other set, powerful and sure yet hesitant. Millicent has a guess. She doesn’t think she has met anyone who’s simultaneously as self-assured and conflicted as this man before.

The unruly shock of dark hair following Hux through the balcony door confirms her speculation.

She simply tilts her head at him when he says, “Hi.”

Hux eyes travel down to the leaf-scattered floor, looking sullen. “It’s fine.” Probably an answer to what Ren said earlier. With his back to the dimming sky and the bustling city beneath us, Hux fishes in his sweatpants pocket, and offers Ren a cigarette. He must have picked it up on his walk back to the balcony, because Hux doesn’t normally keep a pack with himself.

Ren glances down at the proffered package, hesitates for a brief moment, and takes one. He puts it between his lips, the awkwardness of the action barely concealed, and then Hux leans in to light it for him.

Hux lights his own, inhaling deeply, and letting the smoke go, before looking at Ren thoughtfully. “You’re not much of a bad boy as that image you’re trying to keep up, are you?” Hux casually asks him between exhaling small puffs of smoke through his nose and mouth.

The black-haired giant with scattering tiny black dots on his face flushes faintly. “Not being used to smoking doesn’t mean anything except that I don’t smoke a lot.”

Hux turns to him, head resting on the knuckles of his hand, elbows on top of the railing, quirking up an eyebrow. “Oh?” he says, a hint of amusement in his voice, and blows another wisp of smoke at Ren.

Ren frowns and coughs a little in his throat, then lifts his hand up and takes another drag anyway. He doesn’t let it out immediately, but instead tastes it for a bit, and then exhales, releasing and coughing out a gust of white smoke.

The poor thing.

Hux doesn’t comment on any of that, the orange glow at the end of his cigarette going on and off silently in the twilight air.

Ren grimaces, then turns to look at Hux, long fingers reaching out to brush the little leaf off of the ginger hair, and says, “You’re not really much of a poster boy for discipline as they made you out to be either.”

Hux’s eyes linger for the briefest moment at the retreating fingers and looks away. “Kylo Ren,” he inhales, and lets out a smoke ring in Ren’s direction, “being used to smoking doesn’t mean anything except that I might have some experience regarding the subject of smoking.” Hux doesn’t smile, but Millicent sees the playful glint of his eyes.

Ren stubs out his cigarette, eyes focused on Hux. “Everything about you is orange,” he says, as if it explains everything. Hux quirks an eyebrow, a corner of his lips curls up a fraction of an inch, and continues blowing smoke out into the world. The silent that follows is as soft as Millicent’s footfall.

Millicent decides it’s finally time for her nightly patrol; all these floating fumes are making her nose sting anyway.

 

&&&

 

When she comes back, she finds them in the middle of a mild argument about deals and clients, seated at the couch, chopsticks in their hands, on the coffee table stand two boxes of Chinese takeout, cooling and forgotten.

“Meow,” she calls, telling Hux that she’s back.

“Oh, Millie,” her human cut in on Ren, turning toward her, making the other man snap his mouth shut and glare at him icily. Hux ignores him, padding into the kitchen to grab the bag of cat food under the sink. He bends down and scratches the back of her ears, and pours the usual amount of food into Millicent’s black ceramic bowl.

She butts her head against Hux’s hand appreciatively, earning her a soft little laugh from him. “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

From the corner of her eye, she can see how Ren’s jaw works furiously while he stares at the content inside his takeout box. “It’s cold,” he states, a touch of stubbornness coloring his voice.

“You’re not a child, Ren, no matter what the others say,” Hux tells him, his voice’s calm, but his eyes are not. He sits back down on the unoccupied end of the couch, and grabs his own box of chicken and snow peas. “If you hadn’t started arguing with me, we’d have finished this while it’s still hot.”

“We have a fucking traitor!” Ren hisses. “Your way doesn’t always equal success!”

“Let me worry about tha-”

“As if! Our information leaks to that piece of _shit_ of a company! It made my client-”

“Oh?” Hux points his index finger at Ren accusingly. “And if only you could've just followed the _goddamn order_ for once- Fuck,” he bites out, face whips to the side, refusing to look at the man at the other end of the couch. “Just- just eat your damn food, Ren.” Hux closes his eyes, seemingly to count from ten to one and back again in the forced peacefulness behind his eyelids. “We’ve talked about this already. I’m not going to repeat everything, knowing that it would just lead to the same ending.” Turning his head back, he locks Ren’s light brown eyes with his green ones, “Do what you have to do.”

Despite the still hard breathing, Ren seems to cool down at that, contained, for the moment. “I’ll crush them,” he says it like a promise.

Hux must see something in those eyes, because he nods. “Just make sure they don’t crawl back up again.”

“You know I will,” Ren says, and they return to their cold dinner after that.

 

&&&

 

Late that night, Millicent treads lightly into the living room, and finds Ren lying awake on the couch that is entirely too small for his frame. He notices her, and extends his arm, palm up, toward her.

She stops, and waits.

“You know,” he starts, then seems to think better of it, and stops. He shakes his head minutely, and starts again, “I will kill them if I have to.” His eyes are determined, dangerous, in the darkness of the night. Millicent doesn’t know what fuel this man; it’s not entirely what people would want to acknowledge in broad daylight. But if Millicent knows anything about Hux at all, she can at least say that some will probably get a smile out of Hux in return.

“Meow,” she says.

This time, it means, _Good luck_.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Millicent already suspected good things had happened the moment Ren called.

 

Humans usually joke that in the case of a human-cat relationship, there's a master, and there's a slave. And by 'slave', they actually mean their own kind.

Millicent doesn't agree with that belief. Granted, there are some human-cat relationships in which the cats preen at the power in their paws, and the humans love to be told what to do, but saying all cats think they are masters of their own humans, and all humans are at their cats' beck and call, is a bit of a... stereotyping. Every cat is their own self, and saying they are all similar is downright rude.

Case in point: Millicent’s relationship with her ginger human is vanilla and simple. They are friends. Yes, Hux feeds her, but that’s just a friend keeping another friend alive and well. She keeps Hux alive and well, too, bothering him to eat and go out and all that. She’s even willing to attack someone who’s mean to him if she has the chance. She looks down at Hux, lying on the couch, reading boring documents, and jumps down swiftly to land in between his face and paper. Long fingers coming up to scratch behind her ears automatically, Hux adjusts his position in order to get those words back into his line of sight again.

She has to rely on Ren for now. The man is currently leaning on the balcony railing, a can of beer in one hand. He brings the cool metal into contact with his forehead, and gazes into the room, expression unusually soft and open. The sun hasn’t properly set yet, blazing around the tall figure and through the open sliding doors, showering half the living room in warm, orange light. It's going to be a warm summer night, and apparently, they’re celebrating a victory.

Millicent already suspected good things had happened the moment Ren called. She could smell it off of Hux, it was in his mood, how he lit up when gruff voice reported some details through the waves. Hux didn't say much, just some _mmhmm_ and _good_ and _come here_.

She hasn't seen Ren for a while, but when the giant appeared at the front door, she _knew_ that whatever he'd done, it'd been a success. He was still in his white oxford, tie loose, unbuttoned at the neck. There was a smug smile on the man's face, and his stance exuded pride and triumph. "Hey," he greeted, fingers twitching, restless energy bouncing off of his stiff form. As if he was restraining himself from doing something.

Hux met him at the door, handing Ren his beer. Millicent glimpsed how one corner of his mouth curled up a fraction. "Come in, Kylo Ren. You deserve a proper celebration." She sensed that Hux almost came across as too joyous for his own liking, but for once, the man didn't seem to mind.

Kylo Ren, with an invisible crown of laurels rested upon his usual mess of dark hair, stood there and stared at the cool Budweiser in his right hand, even long after Hux had moved back to his place on that black leather couch.

 

 

 

"Is this your idea of celebration, Mr. Hux," Ren voices loudly from the balcony, eyes squinted pointedly at her human, who is now hogging all the space on the three-seater to himself.

Hux flips another page. "I said _you_ were going to celebrate, Mr. Ren. Don't remember saying I would, too." Millicent's tail swishes at his fingers.

“Of course.” Ren pads inside, slides the glass door shut. He walks, three long strides, and, pushing Hux’s legs out of the way, dumps himself onto the already-occupied furniture. Millicent has to escape onto the coffee table from the disruption. “Guess I’m celebrating alone, then.” He feigns a dramatic sigh, deliberately ignoring the murderous glare being shot his way, and gulps down more golden liquid into his belly. Millicent sees that Hux continues to frown at him for a couple more seconds, then picks up one crumpled ball of paper, throws it at Ren’s head, and proceeds to prop his long, long legs up on Ren’s lap.

The larger man seems unfazed, and touches the cool surface of aluminum to his bare ankles. Hux grumbles and moves slightly, only to adjust his limbs, not removing them. His eyes are trained on the strings of words and crowded sentences in front of him, and Millicent notices that, although he’s usually a fast reader, Hux’s been reading that same spot on the top of the page 8 for quite a while.

 

&&&

 

After some time spent watching the humans in the apartment, she gets bored, and slinks out of the room through the cat door leading to the balcony. They’re on the second floor, and she’s not careless, or old, or stupid. Hux’s not going to look down one day and find a dead cat on the ground.

Millicent breathes in the fresh, cooling air of August’s evening. Fall is early this year, she can tell. Leaves are yellowing, all set for their journeys with the wind, and maybe even a little apprehensive, not knowing where the final destinations will be.

The streets are bustling with suits hurrying home, or somewhere better.

Roughly 300 meters into her route, Millicent reaches the big house with large windows. People in the house always leave the TV on, and sometimes, when she doesn't feel the need to rush her walk, she stops near the large window at the front, and watches the nighttime drama through the glass.

More often than not, she is disappointed. Humans in those shows are almost always madly in love. Millicent doesn't have a problem with people in love, though. It's just that two-thirds of them are lovesick fools, and how they interact are saccharine sweet, dripping with too much sugar that it makes her stomach churn. Besides, it's not like she needs to witness anymore sugary moments in her life. Hux's life generates enough gooey atmosphere for one cat.

It’s not like she’s not happy for him. She is. Finally, Hux has another friend apart from her. A human friend. Still, she’s also wary. That Kylo Ren will leave one day, and after, it will be so long before Hux’s okay again. As okay as he’s capable of anyway.

Millicent finds she really, really hopes it doesn’t come to that.

 

&&&

 

Hux is already asleep on the couch when she’s home, piles of abandoned paper and discarded documents laid haphazardly on the floor. His mouth opens slightly, red hair mussed across his forehead, legs still relaxed across the other man’s thighs. Ren is absentmindedly rubbing a soothing rhythm into his feet, and watching a cupcake how-to on YouTube.

When he sees her, he pauses the video, and puts his phone down, all while carefully untangling himself from the man on the couch. “Hey,” he says, grabbing the bag of cat food from under the kitchen sink, “Food, right?”

She looks at him expectantly.

Ren bends down, and pours more-than-usual amount of kibbles into her bowl. “I’ll get you the wet kind next time,” he muses, more to himself than to Millcent. She walks up to him and headbutts his hand, catching the lingering smell of some unidentified meat from his fingers. Ren laughs quietly, the kind that sounds more like an explosive exhale of his breath, and scratches behind her ears, before smoothing his large hand down her back. She feels her whiskers twitch, slipping away from under his heavy palm. Ren just smeared the unpleasant smell all over her. “Meow,” she protests loudly. _Go away, you giant._

The man stands up, as if he really understands, and puts a sealing clip on the bag, before putting it away. He continues to watch her for another brief moment, and then he sees that she’s not going to eat unless he stops looming over her and really walks away. “Whatever,” he says.

Ren walks back to the sleeping man, and says, “Hey.” He repeats it again, louder, when Hux doesn’t stir, and reaches down to shake his shoulder lightly. “Hey, wake up. Don’t sleep here, this couch’s mine.”

She hears a half-heart dismissive sound, and Ren’s accompanying sigh. “Go and brush your teeth.”

“ _Jesus_.” Hux sits up abruptly, eyes not quite open yet. “Are you my mom or what?” he snaps, but stands up, strides to the bedroom, and shuts the door behind him with unnecessary force.

Hux is grumpy after being woken up, nothing new there, so Millicent turns back and eats her dinner.

 

 

 

When Hux comes out, freshly showered and in the usual well-worn t-shirt and boxers combination, he certainly looks much more alive than he was ten minutes ago. He stomps to the couch and stops near the head of dark hair lolling on the back.

Hair dripping droplets of water all over the man’s face, Hux booms into Ren’s ears, “Are you sleeping, Kylo Ren!” Ren jerks awake at the sound, almost bangs his head against Hux’s chin. He looks confused for a moment.

Hux right then is the image of the cat that got the cream.

“What the fuck,” the dark-haired man says, before craning his head back, and looks up at the redhead. Ren suddenly grabs Hux’s shirt, pulls him closer, and wipes his face on the fabric. “It’s your fault,” he explains over the sound of Hux’s curse, stands up on the seat, and walks over the back of the couch to the floor.

“Asshole,” Hux says it like a statement, not an accusation, and frowns at his now damp shirt. “I need to change into a new shirt.”

“Grab me something while you’re at it.” The corners of Ren’s lips lift up, and he touches the dripping red strands.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Kylo Ren,” he warns.

Ren studies him for a second. “Only _you_ get to tell me what to do?”

Hux looks at Ren, steady green eyes framed with pale lashes, and doesn’t say anything. Finally, the one who caves is the taller man. “Fine,” he says it like it doesn’t mean anything, like it doesn’t affect him at all, giving up his power like that. As if it’s just another mundane statement.

Hux, for his part, does look a bit stunned, and more than a little in awe.

 

 

 

When Ren emerges from the bathroom, Hux is still in the same shirt, hair dry, lying in bed and reading a book, already looking sleepy again.

Ren walks over, slowly tugs the book out of his hands, and when Hux lets go easily enough, Ren’s expression grows painfully fond. He places the paperback on the nightstand. “G’night, redhead.”

“Night,” he says quietly.

Ren turns the light off on his way out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and I'm sorry for the slow update. This one always comes to me in unconnected bits and pieces, but I promise it won't be abandoned!
> 
> (I really wanted Kylo to call Hux with his first name in this chapter, but I still feel a bit weird about 'Armitage'. That as a first name sounds too formal for me, and I have no idea how to make it short and still fit with the image of Hux in my head. Ahhhhh, me.)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She finds Kylo Ren amongst the flour and unbaked pie crust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really sorry for the long wait! T_T (thank you so much anyone who's still reading this)

“Don’t pee on my couch,” Ren says from above her. Millicent lifts her head up from where she’s sniffing said furniture and sort of frowns at him. She suspects the effect is lost on her cat face.

_How insulting._

It almost makes her want to actually relieve herself onto that stupidly impeccable couch, but she’s more civilized than that, so she chooses to retaliate with a couple satisfying scratches on the rubescent velvet instead.

The black-haired man gaped at her and it reminds her of a dying fish she saw on Discovery Channel. Hux walks past him, lifts her up, and plops on top of her claw marks. “Good girl, Millie,” he says, and bumps her nose with his.

“You guys are unbelievable.” He does an exaggerated eye roll, before escaping into the direction of what smells like a kitchen. Probably to plan a counterattack. Millicent ignores him for the moment, and rubs her face on Hux’s new peach-colored T-shirt. She detests his new shirts, which Hux loves buying in large batches, because it smells like nothing. Sometimes she thinks Hux intentionally buys ten of them at a time because he loves seeing her scrunching her nose in distaste after he piles them on top of her.

These days, Hux’s closet begins to gain another distinctive scent; the scent which tumbles through their front door and walks all over their home like a pompous feline; the scent which concentrates the most around their black leather sofa.

So now they’re returning the favor. She slips away from Hux’s fingers and slinks along the soft velvet, and toward the smell of egg and butter, leaving the couch for the human. She finds Kylo Ren amongst the flour and unbaked pie crust. “Meow.”

“I’m going to fatten that human of yours up, Millie.” He cracks two large eggs into the glass mixing bowl, and starts whisking diligently. She hops onto the black marble top and peers inside, catching a whiff of cinnamon and nutmeg. “Hey, grab me the ground ginger.”

She looks at him. _Which one?_

“Here,” mussed red head pokes between them, the man hands Ren the bottle. “I didn’t know you bake.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I go around telling people that.”

“Smart ass.” He eyes Ren and moves to the other side of the counter. “Smells good though.”

She catches Ren’s little smile. “I know what I’m doing,” he says, then puts his hand in front of the bowl, shielding the mouth-watering mixing from Millicent’s wandering paw. “Nuh-uh. Wait till it’s cooked, okay?” He lifts the bowl away and puts it into the pre-heated oven, and sets the timer.

“Wow. She’s never done that.”

Ren smirks. “You cooking is shit, Hux. Admit it.”

Millicent looks from Ren’s delighted face to her friend’s unamused one.

Hux only crosses his arms and rolls his eyes.

 

&&&

 

They spend the next 40 minutes watching a random horror flick on TV, and no matter how much Ren is trying to ‘play it cool’, he’s definitely not. He practically jumps every time a cheap jump scare happens, accompanied by a loud, overused sound effect, and he’s only watching the lower half of the screen. When the oven _dings_ suddenly, he jerks so hard Millicent has to hop away from his lap just before she’s thrown across the room. “Meow,” she protests.

“Sorry, sorry, shit, I’m never watching a film with you again,” he says quickly before standing up and disappearing into the kitchen.

Exactly five seconds later, he walks back to the living room, steals the remote, and changes the channel to some sort of National Geographic. “Hey!” Hux says, and tries unsuccessfully to take the remote back.

“My house, my rule. And now you’re coming into the kitchen with me.”

“If one day for some stupid reasons you tried to run for a president, I’d campaign against you,” Hux says, but begins to move from the sofa anyway.

“Too bad for America because I’m not interested in stuff like that.” He catches the end of Hux shirt, and drags him toward the kitchen.

“Don’t pull, it’ll stretch. This is a new shirt.” Hux starts prying those long fingers off his shirt, but even from where she’s watching, it’s obvious that Ren won’t let him go that easily.

“I don’t care. Walk faster then.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

Millicent decides to leave those boys to themselves, and she’s going to explore her new territory for a bit instead.

 

 

 

After a grand tour of the giant’s home, she discovers that Ren is rich in quite a subtle way. His apartment isn’t _that_ big, only a bit larger than Hux’s, but it’s full of the kind of paintings that can’t be found at IKEA (and this reminds her of Hux’s very bare walls, which makes her feel a bit sorry for Hux), overpriced tees and jeans (which you have to look at the labels in order to understand their pricey qualities), and hundreds of action figures of some guy in black mask and black cape (she suspects many of those are limited-editions as well).

Not to mention this flat, circular machine that’s beeping and booping as it moves across the carpet, searching for dusts and stray pieces of paper. She touches it with her front leg, and it quickly moves away from her. _Interesting_.

“Millie? Oh, there you are. I thought you escaped somewhere else.” Hux points his thumb toward the living room. “Let’s get back, the pie’s ready.”

Millicent tilts her head, and turns to look at the sleek white machine with orange LED.

“You made a friend, I see.” Hux grabs the round thing and examines it. “Come on, Millie, you can play with this in the living room, and I guess the kitchen needs some cleaning anyway.”

She follows Hux and the pumpkin spice to the other room, and finds Kylo Ren fussing over a delicious-looking pumpkin pie.

“Just cut it. That pie doesn’t need to be symmetrical. We’re not in a pastry contest, are we?” He sets the device on the floor, and a part of its screen lights up with orange, before it moves very reluctantly toward the kitchen.

“I can’t believe you’re the one telling me that,” Ren says, “and I see you’ve met BB-8.”

“Actually Millie met it first. I can tell she’s really fascinated.” Hux receives the offered plate, and starts digging into his slice of pumpkin pie. “Oh shit.”

“I know. Thanks.” Ren grins cheekily, and tries his own slice. “As good as I remember.”

“Are you fucking serious? This is not _good_ ,” He wolfs down another bite, “this is heavenly, _ohmygod._ Unbelievable. You should do something with this, I don’t know, but _something_. I- oh _fuck_.” Hux sits down and closes his eyes and moans.

It looks like Ren’s cheeks are going to explode. “Thank you.”

“Millie, you should taste this.” Hux cuts out a tiny piece and picks it up. “You shouldn’t be eating this because I think sweet things aren’t good for you, but it’d be a crime not to let you eat just a bit of this, so here you go.”

Hux wasn’t exaggerating at all. She climbs on top of Hux’s thighs and sniffs. _I want more_.

“No, Millie, I don’t want to kill you.” He puts another piece into his mouth.

“I still have some canned pumpkin left, maybe…” Ren says, standing up. He’s already started on his second slice.

 _It’s not the same._ She meows at his back.

“Pumpkin’s good for cat, according to the internet,” Hux says, his eyes intent on the small screen in his hand. “But not sweetened pumpkin pie. I’m sorry Millie.”

“Here’s your pumpkin,” Ren puts a plastic container full of unappetizing pumpkin mixed with boring kibble in front of her. She jumps onto the coffee table and licks her food, looks up at the two humans that are currently enjoying their meal, and silently plans the demise of Ren’s smooth velvet couch and Hux’s new shirt.

 

&&&

 

Ren makes two easy dishes of ham-and-corn risotto (which is ridiculously good, although not as good as the pie, according to Hux) for dinner, while a soft classic tune sings in the background.

"You're even more European than a European." Hux says after spooning a big glob into his mouth. Millicent isn't sure if that's a complaint or just a statement.

“I can also make American food,” Ren says. He must interpret it as the former.

“I definitely don’t doubt that. Mmm, I should come here more often, and then you can cook me all the food you want.”

Ren licks an escaping grain of rice from his bottom lip, eyes fixed on the person in front of him rather than the food. “It’s an honor to feed you.”

She can feel the force of his scoff from her place on his lap.

Ren arches an eyebrow. “Why do-”

An orchestral version of a sinister-sounding march starts playing.

“Excuse me.” He walks to the coffee table and retrieves his phone. “Hello?” He’s takes it away from his ear in a snappish movement, but puts it to his ear again. “No.” He turns toward Hux, who’s intently trying to eavesdrop but acts like the only thing on his mind right now is the tiny piece of ham near his spoon, and points his thumb to the balcony. Hux doesn’t even acknowledge him, so Ren turns and disappears behind the curtained glass doors.

 

 

 

When he comes back, the risotto is cold and the tip of his nose is pink. He doesn’t say anything, then touches the plate in front of him.

“Talk,” Hux says.

Ren rubs his hands together. Hux stands up, takes Ren’s plate with him to the stove where the remaining risotto sits, and comes back with a new serving of steaming risotto. He sets it in front of Ren. The man nods, but his eyes are dull and lifeless, like he’s watching something else that’s invisible to them. Hux nudges both of his hands toward the bowl.

Ren holds onto the warmth of his own homemade meal, and then he starts coming back. “That was my cousin,” he says. “Rey.”

“Beeeeeeep, booooop, beeeep, boooop,” the vacuum cleaner speeds itself across the living room and stops just a couple of inches from the marble counter. It spins around and begins moving from one side of the room to the other, expertly avoiding the legs of their stools.

Ren looks up. “She said if I didn’t help her, then I’d be seriously fucked.”

“What happened?” Hux says. His muscles are rigid. Millicent jumps to the floor, and receiving a rather chiding ‘boop’ from the white machine.

She rubs her head against Ren’s ankle, and feels him unwind a little. He runs his fingers through the dark mess of his hair.

“It’s about Snoke.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _um?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From her time with Hux, she’s learned that for a relationship to work, you have to disagree.

From her time with Hux, she’s learned that for a relationship to work, you have to disagree. With one another. Fight, argue your piece, give your view, challenge each other, say what you mean, and then finally you can agree to disagree.

Those who have come before Ren have always seen things exactly as Hux has, followed his every words, never questioned him.

Ren, he never lets Hux off the hook easily. He challenges him, disagrees, sees things differently, and always drives Hux up the metaphorical wall (although Millicent’s sure that the literal wall is very fine by both of them as well).

Those 'yes-men' have always been the ones who went away in the end. Kylo Ren is stll here.

Even though they’re currently yelling at each other, and Millicent’s watching this exchange with mild interest.

“Listen to me-”

“No, _you_ listen to yourself. What you’re saying is suicidal. If Snoke ever remotely hears a rumor about this, you are going to be so dead.”

“I’ll be very careful.”

“Jesus.” Hux rakes his fingers through his hair, and turns away from the other man for a moment. “I’ll help you get it.” 

“No.”

Hux turns around to face Ren again. “I know where he keeps his files, I know computer, unlike you, and no one’s going to suspect me-”

“Everyone’s going to suspect you-”

“No, because you’re going to be distracting them, all of them, including Snoke.”

Ren looks at him, loses a bit of his focus, and licks his lips. She thinks that’s his habit when he’s contemplating about something. “And what if we really find those documents.”

“Can you trust her?”

Ren steps around the couch and sits down, downing the rest of the beer. The bottle clinks dangerously against the table’s glass surface. “If she’s still who I think she is.”

Hux slumps over the back of the furniture, and reaches for his bottle, which Ren hands to him. “I need more than that.”

She playfully swats at the moving white disk, and it beeps at her loudly. Ren turns to look at the vacuum cleaner, which has wheeled over to where he’s sitting. Millicent jumps on top of it, and hops onto the couch. She ignores the series of noise that follow, and hears Hux scoff quietly. Ren pushes her further from his home appliance. “Yeah,” Ren says, expression soft and tired, and all of a sudden, she can see a young child in front of her. “We can trust her.”

 

 

 

They sit side by side on the couch, and Ren tells Hux about his family. His father was absent most of Ren’s childhood. (“I remembered him as a face in a photograph. Two dimensional and not at all tangible.”) His mother is the CEO and barely had time for the little ‘Ben’, and so the most familiar face during his younger years is the face of his uncle. Luke was a legend, still _is_ a legend, and he taught Ren many things, the art of reading is amongst those things.

One big difference between Hux and Ren is that while Hux reads books, Ren reads people.

His uncle played an important role in Ren’s early adulthood. He was the inspiration that Ren had when he chose to study Psychology and later Behavioral economics.

After that, Ren started working at _The Resistance_ , and since someone said he only got the job because he was the President’s son, he tried even harder to prove he was an invaluable asset to the company. (“And I actually believed that for a time.”)

One day, it was the 6th of December, his father decided to grace them with his visit.

“He was loud and obnoxious, and I was bitter. He’d never been there, and suddenly there he was, standing in the middle of the room, criticizing my work, pointing out the flaws in my project. We never agreed on anything, but that argument escalated, and I said some pretty hurtful things. I told him his opinion didn’t really matter. Who was he anyway? A stranger. If I had to care about every stranger’s opinion then I wouldn’t be able to achieve anything.

“I could see that he was angry, but also had nothing to say, not even a stupid excuse, so I continued with the verbal attack. That may have been the longest conversation I had with him. I completely lost it.

“I couldn’t remember when he left, but the next thing I heard about him was when a man called, and he said that he called because I was the one on the first speed dial.

“Police said it looked like he lost control and crashed into a tree. By the time help was there, he was already gone. Not a DUI, but I don’t really know whether that means anything.”

Hux tightens his hold around Ren’s right hand. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s like I was the one who pushed him off the cliff myself,” Ren said, voice still and almost too quiet, even for her ears.

Staring at the dull widescreen in front of them, Hux is silent. And then, “I’m really sorry.”

Ren leans closer and buries his face into Hux’s shoulder.

“Do you want me to stay the night?”

It’s a lively night outside, lights and sounds and people dancing around each other.

A small _“Thank you”_ is muffled by the peach-colored T-shirt.

 

 

 

They fall asleep once on the couch, and wake Millicent up with the protest about their sore backs. She follows them into Ren’s bedroom and tries to claims the most comfortable spot on the floor. She hears a chuckle and looks up, only to find Ren looming over her with a large pillow. He puts it on the floor next to her. “Meow,” she tells him, and receives a soft scratch behind her ears.

“Are you staying on the floor with Millie, or are you coming to bed?” comes the voice of the lump on the bed.

“Good night, Millie,” Ren says.

_You, too, Kylo Ren._

&&&

 

Millcent gets woken up around five by the snoring competition, and she calls until a groggy giant gets up and opens all the necessary doors that keep her away from the cool morning air. He walks with her, Millicent goes on another route while he jogs, and when she goes back to the building, Ren is waiting for her with two XL sandwiches and two cups of coffee.

Hux is still sleeping when they‘re back inside.

Ren puts everything onto the counter then disappears into the bedroom while Millicent walks toward her water cup and drinks from it. Ren reenters the living room fifteen minutes later with a still-sleeping Hux at his back. The taller man grabs a cup of coffee and hands it to the living dead.

Watching Hux transform into a living person is spectacular every time.

“Mmm,” he moans, “god, you’re a keeper, Kylo Ren.”

“Am I?” Ren braces his elbows on the countertop and leans in. “You know anyone who wants to keep me?”

Hux, who is munching on the extra-large BLT, glances up from his food, and says, “Millie. I think she likes you enough now.”

“Thank you, Millie.” Ren unwraps his own food. “How kind of you.”

Hux picks up the fallen lettuce leaf and throws it at the other man. “Stop charming my cat. She isn’t supposed to like you. She used to hate everyone else except me.”

Ren smirks. “I can’t help that I’m charming,” he says and eats another piece of lettuce Hux throws at him. “I’m sure you like me very much, right? Millie?” He addresses her, but Ren isn’t looking at her at all.

Hux feigns annoyance, and looks away. “Yeah, yeah, I’m sure she likes you very much.”

 

&&&

 

They walk to Hux’s apartment together (“I need another morning walk after breakfast.”) and once they reach his front door, Hux unlocks it. “I’d ask you if you want to come in for a drink, but that’d be ridiculous, seeing that we just ate.” He stands there, a bit awkwardly even. “So.”

Ren takes Hux’s left hand in his, and intertwine their fingers. “I’d love to stay here with Millie, but unfortunately I have something to do.”

“Yeah. So. See you,” Hux says quickly, “and take care of yourself, okay?”

Ren’s face is soft, revealing a thousand unspoken words. “You, too,” he says, before finally turning away and toward the stairs.

Hux steps inside his room, and clouds of dust are dancing in the gold, glimmering ray. He stops in front of his door, seemingly lost inside his own room for a small moment. He looks down at his left hand, and the expression on his face makes Millicent walk up to him and presses herself against his leg. Hux crouches down and pulls her into his arms.

"What should I do, Millie?" There is a tiniest bit of tremor in his voice. "I miss him already."

 


End file.
